CCR

 

Name: __Ivy Heath______________________

 

Creative Critical Reflection

1.      How does your product use or challenge conventions AND how does it represent social groups or issues?

 

My music video is much different than what I had originally planned and stated in my conventions. I created a whole different vibe and a less “yeehaw” typical country music video. I made it simple and just a smooth and calm vibe. I also did not have tons of for say “country” themed items in my video. It was more just a run-down version of one with more things focused on the message on the song and not simply the genre stereotypes. I did follow what I put in my plan somewhat. I included the flowers and sunrise, which helped create that rundown down which I was aiming towards. I got a very pretty clip of the sunset off my dock and it fit the vibe that I was going for perfectly. The rest of my video I used videos of my family and pets. I took a video of my dog looking tired and kind of sad to represent some lyrics and it synced up great. I also got some of my chickens which also ended up good.

 

My music video represents a big social issue going on in todays world. The main theme/idea of the song I chose is about the ongoing world pandemic and Coronavirus. It represents the idea of this throughout the whole song, starting with the title. The title of the song I chose is Six Feet Apart. The idea of six feet apart has to do with our social distancing regulations we are faced with now days. According to the CDC, in order to give ourselves the best chance of preventing the spread of this virus, we should stay at least Six Feet Apart from others. Throughout the song, the artist gives tons of examples of how the world was before the pandemic and how we have had to adjust to a different way of living. He also talks about the struggles of not being able to have that physical contact with other people such as shaking hands and giving each other a hug. This also includes not being able to see family and friends because of the risk it can bring to them. Especially grandparents of people with preexisting conditions because it can lead to them getting very sick or dying. The song itself is trying to convey that we all want things to go back to “normal”, but what a lot of people haven’t realized is that this is just our new “normal” and we as a whole have to adjust to that and better ourselves in these conditions. The song tries to make some light of the situation by helping give hope that someday this pandemic will end and there will be less suffering due to the Coronavirus.

 

 

 

 

2. How does your product engage with audiences AND how would it be distributed as a real media text?

 

My music video is very engaging with my audience considering that this pandemic has affected everyone worldwide. I feel as if the audience my music video can be a variety of different people. The first people I would think of that listen to this song or would watch my video would be Luke Combs fans and country music lovers. I also think that people who are being affected by the pandemic might listen to it because it may give them some reflection or just some happiness with everything going on. I think the visuals in my music video are very engaging and relate closely to the lyrics in the song. For example, when the mood of the song is at a more chill and relaxing part, I included visuals that give you that feeling. When the lyrics had to do with bad news and the world being sad, I added real newspaper headlines from the virus to emphasize the bad news. When the lyrics had to do with bring with family and friends, I included picture of what hanging out with others looked like before and during the pandemic. The music is also in general just a very good song. Luke Combs is and amazing artist in has so much talent when it comes to the music industry. Even though he is fairly new to the industry he has topped many generations of previous singer/songwriters and taken top charts. This song itself was nominated in the CMTs (Country Music Television Awards) for Music Award for Quarantine Video of the Year. On YouTube alone, this song has almost 9 million streams. That alone shows that this song is very engaging and good enough to listen to repeatedly.

My music video could be used to show some light out of all the terrible things happening in the world today. Because the main lesson in the video and song is about how the world is so much different now days it can be used to show how we can make the best out of all the adjustments. Because my music video is on YouTube kids can watch it at home to get a better understanding of what is going on in the world today. It has good visuals that match up with the lyrics and make it more comprehendible and easier to understand what the song is referring too. It can also be used to look back on when hopefully this whole pandemic has come to a slow or stop and be grateful for everything that we have and not take our health and freedom for granted. It has been a real eye opener to many people that are going through this pandemic and how we should appreciate being able to hug our grandparents and parents without having this constant fear of them getting sick. This also goes for being out in public in general. It can be nerve racking because you never know if you have it or not or who else has it and its kind of like a game of roulette and you just have to do your best to protect yourself and others by wearing masks and social distancing.

 

 

3.      How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

 I think my production skills have greatly developed since starting this school year and even since our last project. I have gotten more familiar with the editing tools and I am able to easily upload and edit video clips. I can throw a bunch of video clips together in any order and make them look smooth and good just by using the editing features. I also can cut and edit the music, so it stays in the time limit and match it up with visuals, so everything is not just all over the place. My production skills have also increased when it comes to filming. I have figured out how to manipulate light in ways to make the clips better and more aesthetically pleasing to watch. I also filmed all my videos horizontally because when making the video and watching it, it creates enough space on the screen to fill the whole thing. It also allows you to get a broader view of the setting and what is going on in the videos. I was also able to figure out the best way to direct others when trying to film my clips. When I was working on certain parts of my project, I had my brother and dad act out the scenes for me. It took some work but eventually I was able to get them to perform the action that I was looking for. In order to get them to do the right thing, I had to communicate with them and move them accordingly based on the scene.

 

4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

 

I used many different pieces of technology in order to complete my music video and the blogs to go along with it. I used my phone to film all my video clips. This was one of the more important pieces of technology that I used because I used it to upload videos to and from my computer, take pictures, and record the music. Once I recorded all the videos on my phone, I uploaded them to iMovie, and I was able to start editing. I did some of this on my phone and some on my desktop.  I was able to download the images and video from device to device so that I could edit it and adjust the clips on different platforms. Once I finished my music video, I had to upload it to my YouTube account. I downloaded it to the cloud, and then to my phone. I was then able to upload the video onto YouTube and submit my project. I used many websites to get information about the song, topic, and photos. Through the whole process technology was my main tool and was used every step of the way.